Guckenberger Named WIAC�s Top Pitcher; Van Wychen Earns First-Team

UW-Stevens Point junior Karen Guckenberger has been named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball Pitcher of the Year after posting the lowest single-season earned run average in conference history.

Guckenberger was one of two UW-Stevens Point players on the first team, joining junior centerfielder Jill Van Wychen, who led the WIAC in batting with a .439 average.

Senior catcher Stacy Karls, junior shortstop Carrie Hermsen and freshman second baseman Amy Schumacher all collected honorable mention accolades.

Guckenberger, a South Milwaukee native, had a 0.73 earned run average, allowing just 15 earned runs in 144 1/3 innings pitched. Included in her outstanding season was a streak of 32 consecutive scoreless innings, which ranks second in WIAC history behind the first 33.1 innings of her collegiate career. Her earned run average eclipsed her own single-season WIAC record of 0.78, which she accomplished last season as a sophomore.

In earning her third career All-WIAC honor, Guckenberger had a school-record 143 strikeouts with just 20 walks. The single-season strikeout total was the sixth-highest in WIAC history and gives her 382 for her career, which ranks fourth in conference history, despite playing just three seasons. She also holds school records for career wins with 45 and saves with 11.

Van Wychen�s .439 average was the third-highest single-season average in Pointer history. She finished 47-for-107 with 28 runs scored, five doubles and seven RBI�s. The Kaukauna native and Freedom High School graduate had hits in 27 of the team�s 31 games this season and has reached base with a hit in 47 of her last 53 games.

Karls, a Lodi native, hit .277 with nine RBI�s as the team�s starting catcher. She tripled and scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning of a regular season win at UW-Whitewater and also hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 4-2 win over UW-Oshkosh.

Hermsen, an Oconto native, had hits in 20 of her 28 games played, hitting .295 with 12 RBI�s and a team-high three triples. She also ranked second on the team with 19 runs scored and drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 3-2 win over UW-Oshkosh.

Schumacher, a Milwaukee native who attended Wisconsin Lutheran High School, hit .276 with a team-high five doubles and 13 RBI�s. She had her biggest weekend at the WIAC cluster in Whitewater when she finished nine-for-16 with four doubles over the five games.

UW-La Crosse designated player Kay Kueppers was named the league�s Position Player of the Year and UW-Superior coach Roger Plachta earned Coach of the Year honors.